In search of deformed frogs

A CU-Boulder research team, led by Professor Pieter Johnson, spent three years visiting hundreds of ponds in California in search of amphibian deformations and the parasites that cause them. The researchers discovered that amphibians living in ponds with greater biodiversity had greater protection against parasitic infection. The findings are published in the journal Nature and shed light on how biodiversity may dampen disease transmission in a variety of ecosystems.

CU-Boulder researchers collect recently metamorphosed amphibians from a pond in the Bay Area of California to check them for malformations. Photo courtesy of Dave Herasimtschuk / Freshwaters Illustrated.